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Huge $27.75 Million Verdict for Montana Prisoner Nearly “Beaten to Death” at CoreCivic Lockup

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Failure to Protect (General), Damages - Compensatory, Judgment as a Matter of Law, Deliberate Indifference

Huge $27.75 Million Verdict for Montana Prisoner Nearly “Beaten to Death” at CoreCivic Lockup by Chuck Sharman by Chuck Sharman A jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana returned a verdict on April 2, 2025, awarding $27.75 million in damages to former state prisoner Nathaniel Lake, after …

Broken Water Pipe Leads to Unsanitary Conditions at Montana State Prison

Article • December 1, 2025 • from PLN December, 2025

Filed under: Disabled Prisoners, Plumbing, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Supplies

Broken Water Pipe Leads to Unsanitary Conditions at Montana State Prison by When a water pipe broke at the Montana State Prison (MSP) in the city of Deer Lodge, prisoners were unable to shower or even wash their hands for at least a week.  The break was first discovered at …

Ninth Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Claim Based on Guard’s  Thwarting of Administrative Remedies

Article • August 1, 2025 • from PLN August, 2025

Filed under: Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Grievances

Ninth Circuit Revives Prisoner’s Claim Based on Guard’s Thwarting of Administrative Remedies by David Reutter The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a prisoner’s civil rights action for the failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The Court found the prisoner was “reliably informed” by a …

News in Brief

Article • July 15, 2025 • from PLN July, 2025

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Failure to Protect (General), Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, halfway houses, New Trial/Judgment of Acquittal, Bribery/Extortion/Theft, Fraud and Deceit

News in Brief by Alabama: Elmore County Jail guard Lita Williams, 57, was arrested and charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband on May 21, 2025, the Wetumpka Herald reported. Her arrest followed discovery of a cellphone in a jail cell during a routine search two weeks prior. Data from the …

Lake v. CoreCivic, Inc.,MT, Verdict, Failure to Protect, 2025

Brief • April 24, 2025

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General)

Lake v. CoreCivic, Inc.,MT, Verdict, Failure to Protect, 2025 Case 4:21-cv-00116-BMM Document 102 Filed 04/24/25 Page 1 of 2 IN THE UNITED STA TES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MONTANA GREAT FALLS DIVISION No. 4:21-CV-00116-BMM NATHANIEL LAKE, Plaintiff, VERDICT FORM v. CORECIVIC, INC. d/b/a CROSSROADS CORRECTIONAL CENTER, Defendant. We, …

News in Brief

Article • April 1, 2025 • from PLN April, 2025

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: State Department of Corrections (DOC) guard Arianna Kimberly Slater faces life in prison after she was arrested while attempting to smuggle contraband into Ventress Correctional Facility on February 24, 2025. According to the Birmingham News, a routine employee screening of Slater’s food container found unspecified …

The Grift That Keeps on Giving: $33 Million for State Prisons Generated by Seized Native Land

Article • March 1, 2025 • from PLN March, 2025

Filed under: Native American, Abandoned Property

The Grift That Keeps on Giving: $33 Million for State Prisons Generated by Seized Native Land by In 2024, land trusts in 10 states generated an estimated $33 million in revenue for their prison systems. The figure was estimated from reports by Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, …

News in Brief

Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Wiregrass Daily News reported that Mobile Metro Jail guard Timothy Lee Scarbrough, 39, was arrested on September 9, 2024, and charged with first-degree sodomy for the alleged sexual assaulting of a detainee who was still under the effects of anesthesia after eye surgery. Scarbrough had …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2024 • from PLN October, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Arizona: State prisoner Brigido Montoya made the briefest of escapes from the State Prison Complex in Eyman on August 10, 2024, before he was recaptured 48 minutes later by Florence Police, the Florence Reminder & Blade-Tribune reported. The state Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (DCRR) …

Turn Key Health Clinics: Another Private Jail Medical Provider Leaving a Trail of Death and Misery

Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024

Filed under: Private Contractors, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Turn Key Health Clinics: Another Private Jail Medical Provider Leaving a Trail of Death and Misery by David Reutter by David M. Reutter Jails face a monumental task in the provision of medical care. Those who’ve just been arrested are often experiencing withdrawal from drugs or alcohol. Other pre-existing medical …

Montana Prison Warden Fired for Creating Hostile Workplace

Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024

Filed under: Guard Misconduct

Montana Prison Warden Fired for Creating Hostile Workplace by Montana Women’s Prison (MWP) Warden Jennie Hansen was fired on March 4, 2024, after an internal investigation determined she created a hostile workplace for prison employees. She had been on administrative leave since January 2024, while investigators with the state Department …

Montana Supreme Court Requires Sentence Credit for Time Served in Tribal Jail

Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024

Filed under: Jail Specific, Good Time Credits

Montana Supreme Court Requires Sentence Credit for Time Served in Tribal Jail by On March 19, 2024, the Supreme Court of Montana held that time served in tribal jails prior to sentencing must be credited to that sentence. The case involved Malinda Crazymule. After pleading guilty to felony theft and …

News in Brief

Article • August 15, 2024 • from PLN August, 2024

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On June 24, 2024, Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith told the Birmingham News that county jail guard Tony Dewayne Jackson, 29, had been arrested for smuggling “non-drug” contraband into the lockup. Jackson was no longer working at the jail, but Smith didn’t say how or …

Long Waits for Montana Jail Detainees Needing Competency Restoration Services

Article • January 1, 2024 • from PLN January, 2024

Filed under: Overcrowding, Jail Specific, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Civil Commitment

Long Waits for Montana Jail Detainees Needing Competency Restoration Services by As of June 30, 2023, an unnamed detainee at Montana’s Flathead County Jail (FCJ) had been held over nine months on a burglary charge, though she was not scheduled for trial. Instead the woman, who suffers from mental illness, …

News in Brief

Article • December 1, 2023 • from PLN December, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: Within 48-hours of booking into the Morgan County Jail on August 29, 2023, Miles Rea Batson, 39, had two second-degree assault charges added to his public intoxication charge as well as another for disarming a law enforcement agent. WHNT in Huntsville reported that during booking …

News in Brief

Article • October 15, 2023 • from PLN October, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: On August 12, 2023, an Alabama jail guard was caught – in uniform – stealing Pokemon cards from a Walmart. WBMA in Birmingham reported that Josh Hardy then fled store security on foot before cops caught him in a nearby restaurant. Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew …

News in Brief

Article • August 15, 2023 • from PLN August, 2023

Filed under: News in Brief

News in Brief by Alabama: A state Department of Corrections (DOC) guard was arrested on June 10, 2023, for allegedly smuggling drugs, including meth, to a prisoner at Kilby Correctional Facility, 1819 News reported. Charlie Townsend, 28, resigned from his position upon his arrest by the Law Enforcement Services Division. …

Montana Pays $2,500 to Settle Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Claim

Article • May 1, 2023 • from PLN May, 2023

Filed under: Failure to Protect (General), Settlements

Montana Pays $2,500 to Settle Prisoner’s Failure-to-Protect Claim by Mark Wilson by Mark Wilson On March 9, 2022, Montana prison officials paid $2,500 to settle a federal suit alleging that they failed to protect a state prisoner from a known threat of brutal beating by other prisoners. Andrew Yellowbear, Jr., …

Montana Becomes 13th State to End Prison Gerrymandering

Article • May 1, 2023 • from PLN May, 2023

Filed under: Census, Rural Prisons

Montana Becomes 13th State to End Prison Gerrymandering by Chuck Sharman   by Chuck Sharman On February 14, 2023, Montana joined a dozen other states to end prison gerrymandering, the practice of having census takers count prisoners where they are incarcerated, rather than in their hometowns. It is also the …

Montana Supreme Court Grants State Prisoner 604 Days in Sentence Credit

Article • April 1, 2023 • from PLN April, 2023

Filed under: Credits, Concurrent and Consecutive Sentences

Montana Supreme Court Grants State Prisoner 604 Days in Sentence Credit by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Supreme Court of Montana, in an opinion issued on October 18, 2022, held that the District Court for the state’s Seventh Judicial Circuit issued an illegal sentence when it failed to …